Burma president to visit Australia

Burma's former military strongman Thein Sein will be given the red carpet treatment in Australia next month as the Gillard government seeks to build influence in the south east Asian nation.

Burma's former military strongman Thein Sein will be given the red carpet treatment in Australia next month as the Gillard government seeks to build influence in the south east Asian nation.

President Sein - a one time general in the still military dominated government - has been lauded for steering Burma towards democracy, having lifted the decades long persecution of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

He will visit Canberra and Sydney for two days from December 10 after Foreign Minister Bob Carr extended an invitation in June for the Burmese leader to visit Australia - an offer recently reiterated by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

But human rights activist Zetty Brake said it was ''premature'' for Australia to host Mr Sein, with concerns still prominent over the abuse of minority groups.

Mr Sein was until recently banned from gaining a visa to Australia and listed for financial sanctions.Australia has lifted its restrictions on Burma over the past year, with Mr Carr also changing the formal name for the country to Myanmar, that adopted by the military regime.

Ms Brake said talk of resuming military ties with Burma was worrisome.

Andrew Selth from the Griffith Asia Institute and former diplomat said the visit should be welcomed.

''While an enormous number of problems in Burma remain unresolved, the best way of keeping the momentum of the reform process going is to encourage and support the reformers, he said.